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I created an account just to register my discontent, and then I'll be gone from the forum and from Malwarebytes.
Windows 7 Pro on a Dell Vostro.
Had Malwarebytes installed for the occasional scan because even careful users like me sometimes get the odd spyware because of unscrupulous vendors including unwanted stuff I didn't ask for. It's an OK free tool for that purpose. Not great, not as good as it once was, but easy to find and install, so it is (was) among the tools I use on the infrequent occasion that I run into an infected machine. (I'm the IT manager for my company, which of course leads to being the IT manager for friends and family too ;)
I've never had any need or desire for Premium or it's ilk being my real-time nanny.
Got a nag pop-up today that there was a new version of Malwarebytes, and I figured I might as well update, because at the time I figured an occasional scan is always a good idea.
I was wrong.
I kicked off the install, and when it finished it told me about the "Free trial of Malwarebytes Premium". I didn't opt for that, nor did I see any obvious method of opting out, because I most certainly would have. Said to myself "Oh well, no harm. It can run in the background and when it nags me to upgrade I'll just say no and that will be the end of it."
I was wrong.
This is Problem #1 - I wanted to simply apply the update to plain old Malwarebytes scan tool, but an update wasn't what was installed. It was a "free trial of Malwarebytes Premium", which was NOT expressed anywhere before installation. So, you installed something that I didn't ask for - the classic delivery system for MALWARE!
The very next thing I did was open a perfectly legitimate piece of software from a perfectly legitimate vendor. I use it in my business every day, as do a lot of people in my business. The only thing that happened was that I got a pop-up that Malwarebytes had blocked it, and said pop-up promptly disappeared. I thought "OK, false positive, no big deal. I'll merely tell Malwarebytes to make an exception for this executable, and continue on my merry way."
I was wrong.
This is Problem #2 - With the default settings I didn't want that are applied to the software I didn't ask for, Malwarebytes takes it upon itself to Quarantine (not "block" as the pop-up stated, but Quarantine) an application without giving the user any option to exclude it.
Which brings us to Problem #3 - Since I know the difference between "block" and "quarantine", it took much longer than necessary to find out where to make an exception, as at first I didn't look at the "Quarantine" tab in the dashboard - because it said it was "blocked". Clicking on the Notifications only showed me that the action was taken, with no indication whatsoever of what I could do about it. Not explanatory text, no button to undo, no links of any kind, just the option to Export the information.
I finally looked at the Quarantine tab and found the entry. Here there was an "Restore" button, so I thought "Aha! Simply click that and I'm back in business!"
I was wrong.
(Actually, I'm not positive it said "Restore" or if it was some similar term - I've already uninstalled Malwarebytes and I'm certainly not going to install it again to get the reference correct! If someone wants to flame me for getting the label wrong, have at it troll)
Anyway, after clicking the button I attempted to open my application, and it was gone from the Start menu! I checked, and the shortcut had also disappeared from my Desktop!
WTF? Who do you think you are? It's one thing to block the executable from running, it's quite another to presume to remove it from MY Start menu and desktop. That's unnecessary and intrusive. Of course, I know how to go find the executable, create a shortcut in Start and on the Desktop, change the icon back to my preference, rename it to a more convenient name than the executable, etc... in other words, MANUALLY RESTORE it... kind of what a reasonable person would have expected the "Restore" button to do.
OK, so you wasted some of my time with that exercise, but I can't help thinking - what if this happened to my 83 year old mother? How would some casual home user ever regain access to their perfectly legitimate application that was quarantined by Malwarebytes?
The default settings in Malwarebytes Premium are a potential disaster for the user, and the most likely consumer of this type of product is the least likely to be able to extricate themselves from the problems it can cause.
Look, I'm fine with you looking for a way to cash in on Malwarebytes. It's your property and there's nothing wrong with marketing it. However there IS something wrong with marketing it deceptively, which is exactly what you are doing when an "update" installs a completely different product. That's MALWARE.
Maybe you should change the name to "Malware!(...bites!)"